Re: Extreme Makeover - Weight Loss Edition (ABC)

Oh, okay. 4'7. lol She really did go for it. I realize training was great, but most people train too, but they aren't that short and overweight. Maybe she was blessed with a very strong heart and lungs.

Yeah, her sister sounded like a piece of work. I hope Sara changes her contact info and never hears from the girl again. Toxic people are just that. It's too bad. You could tell Sara was a kind person. Whatever the trouble was, certainly, Sara didn't deserve such cruelty.

Re: Extreme Makeover - Weight Loss Edition (ABC)

Originally Posted by Photobabe

Deb, I think you gave Sarah an extra inch! Not that she would mind. I heard them say she is 4'7'' ! As to how she did it...I'm sure part of it had to do with the training she did in Arizona prior to the race. Remember, Chris insisted she go to AZ. and train with him. The other part had to be mental. From day one her attitude was, if I want to do it, I can do it and I will do it.

I hope that sister of hers throws up from all the crow she's eating.

She gave her an extra foot! Obviously that was just a typo, but I read it before I saw anything about the episode, so I was thinking, "Why is she considered a little person?"

I'm just starting to watch OnDemand right now. The episode description says that she's 4'5", so she's getting shorter and shorter!

I'm amazed at how nasty and unsupportive family members can be. I think we all have that one person in the family, but when it's a parent or sibling, it just seems worse.

Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.' - Isaac Asimov

I was thinking of the immortal words of Socrates, who said, "... I drank what?"

Re: Extreme Makeover - Weight Loss Edition (ABC)

Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.' - Isaac Asimov

I was thinking of the immortal words of Socrates, who said, "... I drank what?"

Re: Extreme Makeover - Weight Loss Edition (ABC)

The fact that she didn't own up hitchhiking before hearing that comment just reinforces the knowledge that she was lying about sticking to the regime during phase 2.
She left Chris and Heidi no reasonable choice but to expel her.

Re: Extreme Makeover - Weight Loss Edition (ABC)

Originally Posted by Photobabe

The fact that she didn't own up hitchhiking before hearing that comment just reinforces the knowledge that she was lying about sticking to the regime during phase 2.
She left Chris and Heidi no reasonable choice but to expel her.

The man looked terrific at the end!

This episode really showed how important attitude is.
The man went into this feeling profoundly grateful for the opportunity & was going to take full advantage of it and work to his fullest. He was positive throughout and had the attitude of "I'm not about to mess this up." Even at the end, instead of rushing into surgery, he chose to continue with his program & weight loss, and wait until he was in the optimum position for the surgery to do it's best. I really admired him for that.
So many people get to that point, and even if they really do need to lose more, want to just "lop it off" ASAP.
I think he'll be successful in keeping in off in the long haul.

The woman, on the other hand, saw it all as a quick easy fix. Like being chosen by Chris for the program was going to make the weight magically come off without any hard work. A few tough sessions & voila!, her system would magically start burning off the fat on it's own. And that lying about what she was doing would make her lies true.
This is exactly how she got to that point. "I'll start tomorrow" kind of attitude, and then tomorrow never happens.
She was defeated before she even started because of this attitude.
She needs a big wakeup call, & obviously Chris wasn't it.

Re: Extreme Makeover - Weight Loss Edition (ABC)

I have a treadmill at home, and love to watch this show on it....I'm only a walker due to knee issues, but I up my incline and speed. It also helps that even with my hearing problems I can really hear these people...plus of course anything important is repeated at least 3 times... so I can be puffing and not miss much.

Dad Jeff and daughter Juliana, 16, Macht of Highlands Ranch teamed up to lose weight on the ABC television show "Extreme Weight Loss." Jeff lost about 200 pounds and Juliana lost 100 pounds. (Cyrus McCrimmon, Denver Post file)
Related Stories

Sep 9:
Extreme Workout = Extreme Weight Loss

HIGHLANDS RANCH — Here's what fans of ABC's "Extreme Weight Loss" won't know when see the transformations of teenager Juliana Macht and her father, Jeff, tonight: They weren't the only ones in the family who lost weight.

"As a family, we've lost more than 530 pounds, including Juliana, Jeff, our son Joseph and his wife, our daughter Joanna and me," said Michelle Macht, Jeff's wife.

Jeff's weight, when he joined the "Extreme Weight Loss" cast last summer, was 423 pounds. Sixteen-year-old Juliana was 265. (Michelle was 2 pounds shy of 200.)

Before being cast, Jeff, director of education for the Independent Electrical Contractors Rocky Mountain, was consideringbariatric surgery. Looking back over the past year, he and Michelle are pleased and relieved that his audition for "Extreme Weight Loss" was successful.

"If he'd gotten the gastric sleeve, I'm not sure that Juliana would still be here with us," Michelle said.

Juliana, her youngest child, was suicidal. Her parents learned that she'd attempted to cut her wrists, driven to desperation by other teenagers mocking her weight.

"They called me Earthquake and worse," she said.

"There was a game, when I was in fifth grade, where kids dared each other to touch me, and then pass on the Juliana germs."

Their bullying only made Juliana's weight problems worse. She had high blood pressure, breathing problems, and a test found that she had nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, which can lead to liver failure.

"When I got home from school, my old snack would be Nutella and chips," Juliana Macht said.

"Now, it's yogurt. I used to pretend to be sick to get out of going to school when we had Mile Day. Now Mile Day is just another day. I've turned into a runner. I went to Disney World and did a half-marathon in 2:15."

Everything changed when she and her father joined the others whose stories are being told on "Extreme Weight Loss" this season. The final episode airs tonight a 7 p.m. on ABC As the weight melted off — thanks to a dramatic change in nutrition, and three workouts a day — Juliana's classmates began asking her for diet and exercise advice.

"I still hear from some bullies, but more people are sending me texts like, 'You're such an inspiration,' and 'What do you eat?' and 'How do you work out?' " she said.

"So now, when the bullies try to get at me, I think, 'You come do what I did. I don't think you could do it.' I'd like to have a school assembly so I could get up in front of those bullies and tell them my story, and let them know I'm stronger now."

She's also an ambassador for the Yellow Ribbon Suicide Prevention Program, an anti-bullying program that invited Juliana to work with them — something she could never have imagined 18 months ago, she said.

"I was kind of thrown into 'Extreme Weight Loss,' because I didn't really expect to be on the show," she said. "But the producers were like, 'It's Jeff AND Juliana or no one,' so it was like, 'Oh. I guess I'm gonna lose some weight.' "

It was a long, hard journey. There were tears. There were fights. There was despair.

"This whole thing has been about truth in transformation," Jeff said.

"When people ask me what's important, I tell them, 'What's most important is examining my heart, followed by exercise and eating healthy.' I got that epiphany on what I call my wonderful, terrible Tuesday."

On that particular Tuesday, Jeff lied to "Extreme Weight Loss" trainers Chris and Heidi Powell when they asked about his workout that day. He was stunned when he learned they already knew he had skipped the exercise.

"They knew! And that made me stop and think" about who really loses when he skips a workout, he said. (Producers and trainers closely monitor the "Extreme Weight Loss" cast, and will call out individuals when they stray.)

"At that point in the program, I'd only lost six or seven pounds after the Phase 1 boot camp. Once I faced the truth, then the pounds started falling off. And it changed the way things taste. Last week, we were at a comedy place, and I'd asked for something without salt. But I couldn't eat it. Everyone else thought it was wonderful. But to me it only tasted like sodium."

Juliana and Michelle know what he means. They used to like sweet tea. Now they use stevia as a sweetener, and don't use much of that. Even on "reset day," the one day a week when "Extreme Weight Loss" participants are allowed a high-calorie indulgence, the Machts found their tastes literally had changed.

"On reset day, we used to order two stuffed-crust pizzas and eat it all, but now, we order one thin-crust pizza and we have leftovers," Michelle said.

The Machts still work out two to four hours a day — once in the morning, again at midday, and after work or school. Juliana's new goals include running a seven-minute mile. Her father's accomplishments include running four miles at 13 to 15 minutes per mile.

"It was amazing, and it gave me a real change in attitude," he said.

"I'll come against a challenge, and I'll think, 'Hey, I ran a stinkin' half-marathon! I can do this!'"

Re: Extreme Makeover - Weight Loss Edition (ABC)

I really wish this show would get over their EXTREME desire to shock and dare and stop with the big double dare you to exert yourself challenges. With the father/daughter initial walk to get on the show the dad was not physically able to do this. Right after he is evaluated and the doctor says no to some workouts. Why did they place that man's health in jeopardy just to get big ratings at the beginning of their show? It''s just so predictable that they will do this. It's the main thing that bothers me about this show.

Also, I'm not as impressed with Heidi as Chris and the show are. It's almost like they pull her in under some obligation.

Congrats to those who lose weight though. It's very impressive. I kind of wish they would get some kind of reward too, besides the gift card to the fitness center and surgery. Didn't they used to give a Wallmart Gift card for a year's worth of groceries?